Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Die Verwandlung by Franz Kafka

7 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

oh wow how i loved this.
let me first off say this was given to me through a giveaway here on StoryGraph, and i am so thankful for audrey for giving me this!
this was my first audiobook, and boy was it a treat
i loved not only the story, but the narration techniques, the music, and how i could truly *feel* gregor's despair. also ngl audrey's little recaps are a blessing.
the story itself was so beautiful. i loved how simple it was to grasp the underlying metaphor, yet i could still easily fall in love. kafka's writing has a sort of lyrical sense to it, and im addicted.
also i loved how pathetic gregor was.
i just loved everything about this. i cant put into words why greatly, i just really had a good time reading this.
also this made me cry and literally only 2 other books have done that to me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

lunar_witch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Excrement, Grief, and Abandonment

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

thevampiremars's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A lot of these stories didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, and I don’t know if that’s due to the writing style or poor translation. Maybe it’s just the summer humidity making my brain foggy. Interpreting Kafka’s writing feels like deciphering a riddle, and I mean that as both criticism and praise.

Contemplation (1913) – 4.5☆

A beautifully written series of vignettes romanticising the mundane. It’s more like a collection of poems than a sequence of chapters; there’s no narrative structure or throughline connecting each part. It serves as an enticing introduction to Kafka’s writing, like an instrumental opening track.

The Judgement: A Story for F (1913) – 3.5☆

This one felt incomplete, like a chapter from a longer story. I felt I was lacking context. I did a little research and it seems the German version contained some double meanings that got lost in translation, thereby obscuring the metaphor. Still, I didn’t dislike it, and I can appreciate what Kafka was going for.

The Stoker: A Fragment (1913) – 2.5☆

Ironically, this story actually was intended to be the first chapter in a novel, but it didn’t leave me wanting more like The Judgement did. If I had to sum up The Stoker in one word it would be “dull.” I just didn’t care.

Metamorphosis (1915) – 4.0☆

The main event, my reason for buying this book. I liked it and I can definitely see why it’s considered a classic, but I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m missing something.

It strikes me as an allegory for disability. Gregor used to be the breadwinner of the household, and now that he can’t work he’s seen as a burden. His family is ashamed of him, and though they claim to “tolerate” his presence, they do everything they can to hide him away and they avoid him as much as possible. Further, he has become inhuman. He’s a monstrosity, and by the end of the story his mere existence is taken as evidence that he is a threat, and therefore as justification for fatal neglect.

Once again I did some research, and apparently there are many differing interpretations of Gregor’s sorry state. I even saw one theory that

the title actually refers to Grete’s maturation from a carefree girl to a responsible young woman. That would explain the odd shift in focus at the end of the story, but I’m not sure that’s the final piece of the puzzle I was looking for.

It’s a thought-provoking tale, I’ll say that much! There’s a lot to chew on. It’s a fascinating blend of realism and fantasy with a surprising amount of depth.

In the Penal Colony (1919) – 2.5☆

Another dull story.

The torture machine was convoluted and ridiculous so it didn’t have whatever horrifying and/or erotic effect Kafka was going for. I think he was trying to make a point about the criminal justice system, about how those in power are so perversely obsessed with punishment that it doesn’t matter to them whether or not their actions actually constitute any kind of “justice.”

I’d honestly recommend watching the 1985 Doctor Who serial Vengeance on Varos instead of reading this – it plays with a lot of the same ideas, plus more.

A Country Doctor: Short Prose for My Father (1920) – 3.5☆

More poetic vignettes à la Contemplation, with higher highs and lower lows. It’s difficult to rate these collectively. My favourites were definitely Jackals and Arabs, an intriguing story commenting on colonialism and the self-appointed messianic role of Europeans, and A Report to an Academy, which was really poignant in its frank discussion of assimilation as a survival strategy. Some of the other stories were forgettable, impenetrable, sometimes feeling stubbornly pointless (though perhaps that pointlessness was the point, I don’t know). Overall, I think there’s more good than bad in this collection of short prose.

The Hunger-Artist: Four Stories (1924) – 3.5☆

Though listed as “Four Stories” I will review them together because they were grouped together. First Sorrow was simple but effective. My only real complaint is that maybe it’s a little too short; it would have been nice to see more of the trapeze artist’s craft before introducing the problem of travel and the rest of the narrative after that. A Little Woman reminded me of an ex. A Hunger-Artist was an evocative and sympathetic look at performers relying on attention almost literally as a means of sustenance. Josefine, the Singer, or The Mouse People struggled to hold my attention.

Aeroplanes in Brescia (1909) – 3.0☆

A quaint historical snapshot. The romantic descriptions of the little planes in flight makes me think of Porco Rosso even though that’s set a couple of decades later.

Great Noise (1912) – 3.0☆

It doesn’t have much to say and I don’t have much to say about it. It’s only half a page long, though, so it’s not like it overstays its welcome.

The Coal-Scuttle Rider (1921) – 3.5☆

A simple but effective tale of class conflict, of the haves leaving the have-nots to die preventable deaths if they cannot pay for what they need. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

I tagged abandonment but neglect would be more accurate, and although not explicitly presented as an eating disorder I did tag that for the description of intentional starvation

linsophie's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Excrement

morgiah's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide, and Excrement

tbrunlimited's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

 The metamorphosis was honestly quite interesting. I was very intrigued to see how it played out and it had quite a satisfying ending ... It was short but well-paced. It left me in wonder and it really made me think about how people (especially those who love you most) find it very difficult to accept you might be very sick (mentally or physically) this book is a blown-up exaggerated version of a very interesting real occurrence/ idea. I have it two stars because I think there was not quite enough plot of enough substance to carry this on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, and Excrement